Ironside: Zorro under Attack!
by Swissmounty
Summary: Zorro under attack! What's behind it? Set December 1966, in Hollywood
1. Chapter 1

**Zorro under Attack**

"Mr. Ironside? Could you please come to studio 24 instantly? We had another accident here…"

Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside smashed the earpiece back onto the cradle. For a second he remained immobile.  
>If this had been a 'normal' accident like the ones that kept happening over the last few days they would not have called him: officer Edward Brown would have reported the basics to him after everything was back to normal, then he would have started the investigation. His irascibleness was already famous in Hollywood, he had seen to that, so people had gladly accepted this arrangement. Ed, who was on set, would usually be perfectly capable of handling such an accident.<br>The fact that it had not been him calling for help was suspicious anyway. It led to the conclusion that Ed was most probably involved in the accident.  
>Vigorously the big, athletic detective snatched his jacket and left the office he had been provided with for the time being.<p>

When he arrived in front of studio 24 two paramedics were about to load a stretcher into an ambulance. A very pale Ed Brown was lying on it, a bandage around his temple. He was wearing a black shirt, as if he had been playing 'Zorro'… but he could not have been, could he?

"Ed?" Ironside asked, not really expecting an answer.

"He's unconscious," one of the paramedics explained unnecessarily.

"How bad is he?"

"We don't know yet."

Well aware that he had to let them take the officer to the hospital as quickly as possible Ironside turned towards the group of actors and crew standing around. "What happened this time?"

Cyril Rogers, the director, sighed. "A torn rope. And we were even lucky."

"You were what?! Because it was not your precious star but only a simple cop who got hurt?"  
>Ironside's booming voice intimidated everyone present. This was not acting, but a real-life man who had the temper, the physical requirements and the power to go through with any threat… and he wasn't even threatening yet. He had just asked a simple question.<p>

Rogers took the initiative. "Let me explain it, Sir! You folks go for lunch. Doug, take care of your camera. We can't work right now anyway." His glance fell on Billy McCarty, the male lead. Like Ed he was wearing a Zorro costume. The mask was hanging halfway out of his pants pocket. He was looking almost as pale as the man on the stretcher and obviously in a state of shock. "And somebody give Billy a drink."

The bystanders were more than glad to comply. Discussing the incident animatedly they left.

"Why was Sgt. Brown wearing Billy's costume?" asked the Chief impatiently.

Ed's job was to protect the star of the movie: After the third 'accident' happening to him it had become obvious that someone wanted Billy McCarty out of the way. At this point Ironside had been assigned the case. McCarty was a superstar, known all over the world, winner of all kinds of awards, for instance the previous year the one of 'best looking man alive'. The publicity which was to be expected along this case justified the deployment of the most famous investigator of the West Coast: San Francisco's Chief of detectives Robert T. Ironside.

While trying to solve the case in the background he had put his most promising junior officer to work in the field. Ed had overseen the filming of every scene of "Zorro under Attack", especially the dangerous ones, and there had been many of those, even though the stuntman did the most spectacular ones. Ironside knew that Ed had eventually even put on a costume, playing a mute villain or another background actor, when he had to be close to the lead. But the Chief could see no reason why he should wear the main man's costume!

"See, we had another incident this morning. It was outdoors, behind studio 22, when filming a scene in front of a burning stable. A burning wall broke down, and Billy would have been hit, had Sgt. Brown not managed to pull him away in the nick of time. Nothing happened, but Billy was shaken up pretty badly. Afterwards he was afraid of doing the rope scene.  
>Now… I don't know if you have noticed, but your assistant looks a lot like Billy."<p>

Of course Ironside had noticed the resemblance. To him it hadn't seemed that pronounced tough. McCarty was an attractive, athletic and considerably broad-shouldered man in his forties, whereas Brown looked more like a lanky school-boy alongside him. Probably a thick make-up and some bulky clothing could diminish the differences.

"He could be his younger brother," Rogers went on, "the same square jaw, the shape of his mouth… and nose, eyes and hair didn't matter, they would be invisible under Zorro's mask and hat. The size was close enough, we just had to pad out the kid – err, Sgt. Brown. So we decided to let him play the scene instead of Billy."

"How could you decide such a thing?! Brown was here to protect McCarty, not to play movie star!" Ironside was really angry now.

The director looked slightly embarrassed. "We had lost a lot of time already, and like everywhere time is money when shooting a film. We asked the kid – Sgt. Brown, I mean – if he could do it, and he agreed. It wasn't supposed to be dangerous, really, or we would have used the stuntman; yet he was not available, because nothing dangerous was planned for today. Who would have expected a rope to break?"

"Let me see that rope!"

Together they went into the studio. Doug Donelly, the cameraman, was sitting on the floor, the fragments of a camera in his hands. He looked devastated: "It was my favorite…"

Ironside made a mental note. He would have to ask why the camera was broken as well. But in the first place he wanted to know what exactly had happened to his assistant.

The torn rope was still hanging from the ceiling, looking somehow innocent.

"Want me to get it down?" asked Rogers.

"No, leave it there." A ladder was leaning at the wall nearby. Ironside snatched it to take a close look at the breakage.

When he stepped down his normally handsome face was clouded with anger and he frowned. "It's been cut halfway through."

"That's what we assumed too."

"What exactly did you mean when you said that you were lucky?"

"You see – Ed may look like Billy, but unlike him he's quite a lean fellow. He's weighing at least twenty pounds less than our star…"

"More like fifty!" grumbled Doug, standing up.

Rogers went on: "Our special effects' man said that the rope would have given way immediately under Billy's weight and he would have broken his neck, whereas with the kid – Sgt. Brown, I mean – it frayed out. Ed had the time to prepare himself for the fall, and when it happened he rolled up to minimize the damage. But then somebody who had been standing on the gallery panicked and made a silly move – and the camera fell down onto him. That was bad luck for him of course."

"What I don't understand is why Brown didn't check the rope before it was used," said Ironside.

"But he did!" answered the cameraman. "He insisted on checking it for McCarty. That's why the ladder is still standing here: We had to get it for him so he could examine the full length of the rope. Hero Billy was too scared though and we decided to let the kid play the scene. He was supposed to swing over to the other side of the gallery, and coming back two assistants had the job of catching him."

Ironside climbed up to the gallery. The rope extended to a little more than two yards above the floor of the gallery, and of course it was close enough to grab it from there.

"Did Ed leave to change his clothes?"

"No, he just put on a Zorro-dress over his own clothes to look a little larger. We were in a hurry, so he did it right here. He also had to take a quick shave, because he had been playing a villain in the morning." Doug pointed at a razor which was lying forgotten in a corner of the gallery, together with a basinful of water and Ed's jacket.

"Who was up here while he did that?"

"Only me, Billy, Doug and the two assistants; there's not much room, as you can see," answered the director. "Oh, and for a few minutes there was also Irene, the make-up artist. She brought the necessary equipment and checked Ed's mask. Doug was still busy with his camera." He scratched his head. "You don't suspect one of us wanting to harm your assistant, do you?"

"Everybody likes the kid," added Doug.

"Look at the rope. It's been cut where a tall man could get to with a knife," reminded them Ironside.

Donelly was only 5ft 6, and Irene even less. Ironside would not have suspected Doug anyway, after witnessing his grief over his camera. Donelly looked suspiciously at the director, who was about 6ft 1 tall like McCarty.

"Do you have the scene on film?" asked Ironside.

"Yes Sir, of course. Do you want to see it?"

Ironside nodded. He followed Rogers to the cutting room.

The film sequence showed a masked Zorro with a juvenile physique putting his sword into the sheath, grabbing a rope and jumping over the railing. Then the rope started to fray out visibly. Ed seemed to notice it. He looked up. A split second afterwards he vanished out of the picture, together with the part of the rope he was holding onto. The cameraman had not been expecting this fast move, so he had not been able to catch it. On the other hand it was clearly visible how the rope gave way. A sequence of blurred, unrecognizable pictures followed, supposedly when the camera had been pushed over. Then the screen went black.


	2. Chapter 2

"Let me see the movie of this morning's accident too!" the Chief demanded.

In this one his usually neatly dressed assistant was hardly recognizable: He was unshaven and they had put him into an ugly long sleeved shirt and vest.

The scene in front of Ironside's eyes was very frantic: People screaming, a burning building in the background, then a broad-shouldered Zorro running past, supposedly to save an unseen child out of the fire while bystanders were watching, Brown among them. But suddenly the danger became real: The burning mockup of a wall started to shake. Ed jumped towards it. In one quick movement he pushed the movie-star out of the danger zone. The wall collapsed, but nobody was hurt.

"Kid's got a hell of an ability to react," commented Rogers.

Ironside nodded, but censoriously.

"Why do you keep calling him 'kid'? He's a grown man, isn't he?"

Again Rogers looked a little embarrassed. "Yeah, well, see… you may know that Billy's first big success was the title role in "Billy the Kid". It was actually the reason why he chose the screen name "Billy McCarty".  
>Now since Ed had to protect Billy, they started to stick together like Siamese twins. People could not help comparing them, and Sandy, our young script girl, was first to notice the likeness between them, but in comparison Billy looked … well… middle-aged and almost a little overweight. As you could see we did everything to not let Ed look his best, but still…<br>And then, since it became too obvious that Billy at 43 is not a kid anymore, Margareta da Costa, who plays Lolita and who is as smitten with Sgt. Brown as Sandy, started to call him 'the kid', like in 'Billy the Kid'. Billy didn't like it, but there was not much he could do about it, especially since he's not as popular on set as he is in the movie-going world, to say the least.  
>Ed only laughed about it."<p>

Ironside memorized this piece of information together with the rest in his gigantic memory.

Up to now the snippets of information didn't fit together.  
>He recalled what he had investigated himself: not a single member of cast and crew had a criminal record worse than parking violation and a few cases of DUI. It looked as if this was a group of model citizens…<p>

He would have to take it from the beginning: motive, means and opportunity.

Motive –who would want Billy McCarty out of the way? Just about everybody, as it seemed. Still the aversion of the colleagues was not a motive strong enough for a possible murder. And who would want Ed Brown out of the way? Nobody – except the assailant of course, if he was afraid of being caught. That helped a lot, thought the Chief ironically.

"Cyril, let me call the hospital and ask them if there is any news on Officer Brown. After that your people should be back. I want to talk to them."

"So we'll meet in studio 24 again?"

"Agreed."

* * *

><p>Ironside headed for the next phone booth. He was put through to the medic who had examined Ed.<p>

"He's still unconscious, but his condition is stable. We can't exclude the possibility of brain damage. At the least he has a concussion.  
>On the plus-side there are no broken bones and probably no internal injuries. I can't tell you more until he wakes up."<p>

Possible brain damage… Ironside shuddered at the thought of a talented young man ending up mentally disabled. And all that because some movie making busybodies could not wait… ultimately for purely mercenary reasons.

A burning fury directed at the person who had done this to his assistant and friend flared up in him. He would stop them, no matter who they were.

He headed back towards studio 24, but made a detour: Right behind studio 22 the scene with the burning stable had been filmed. Everyone knew by now that the scene of an accident was to be left untouched until he would have examined it.

The fire was doused, of course, and the charred planks did not look nice. How had the assailant been able to cause the wall to tumble down?

It turned out that it was no big mystery: the ropes stabilizing the wall had been cut. The ax which had probably been used was still lying there.

Ropes again, like in studio 24? Until now the assailant had changed his 'modus operandi' each time since they were here: a trunk falling into the water, a rock slipping, a shying horse… Unfortunately nobody had investigated the accidents which had occurred before he and Ed had been here.

Ironside hid the ax behind a tree, careful to not destroy possible fingerprints.

* * *

><p>When he reached studio 24, cast and crew were awaiting him.<p>

Frowning he scrutinized the faces, leaving no doubt that he was dead serious about this whole matter.  
>Some of his listeners started to look uncomfortable.<br>Ironside didn't miss it, but it could be caused by the unfamiliar situation as well as by guilt.  
>On the other hand some women made sheep's eyes at the hunky detective. Yet the Chief was in no mood to appreciate it.<p>

"Let's start with officer Brown's accident.  
>Brown examined the rope. He even insisted on getting a ladder for that purpose. I have trained the man myself: no way could he have missed the cut in the rope. After this examination – who had access to it?"<p>

Rogers repeated the names, and several heads nodded yes, "Myself, Billy, Doug, Frank, Steve and Irene. Nobody else."

Frank and Steve were the two assistants, strong men, probably more muscle than brains.

"Would you two please stand up for a second?" Ironside asked them. They did, and it became visible that they were both far taller than 6ft. No problem for them to cut the rope.

Doug, who knew that he was too short to be a suspect, wanted to help. "Does any of you have a knife?"

They denied it.

"I suppose that the cutthroat razor has been used. Any of the six had access to it. But who suggested letting Sgt. Brown play Zorro?"

"That was Doug, and I jumped on the suggestion; it was a good idea," explained the director.

"Is it common practice to use an untrained man as substitute star-actor?" Ironside asked acridly. He was still less than impressed with this decision.

"No, of course not. But given the likeness of the two, and then the mask of Zorro… and acting skills are not that important for action scenes. You know…" he threw a apologetic look at Billy McCarty, "almost every actor wants to play Robin Hood or Zorro once in his lifetime, and the famous ones can get that part when they are famous enough. And most of them reach that stage at an advanced age.  
>So it is quite common to have middle-aged Zorros and Robin Hoods.<br>Each of these movies has the same problem: how to put the leading actor in a good light. Ed under Zorro's mask seemed to be the perfect solution for this problem.  
>Of course the star is the kingpin of the whole movie. People want to see the picture because of Billy, not because it is a good movie.<br>That way we would have his face in the Diego-scenes, plus a physically good-looking, fit Zorro."

"Was this no problem for you, Miss Da Costa?"

Margareta Da Costa, the female lead, who was past thirty, but still beautiful and additionally very witty, shook her head no: "Cyril said that Billy would of course still play the scenes of Don Diego, which are less physical, but he would take the kid for the Zorro-scenes. He would need a little padding out to fit in with the scenes already shot, but he would look much better than Billy.  
>I said: 'How funny is that: the kid playing Billy the kid!' and the others laughed about it."<p>

Ironside briefly considered the consequences of what he had heard.  
>His prime suspect, director Cyril Rogers, had no interest in killing Billy McCarty. Actually he could not afford losing him if he wanted his movie to be a success. In combination with the fact that it had been him calling for 'the best investigator on the west coast', this just about cleared him.<p>

"Frank and Steve, were you involved in the fire-scene this morning?"

Both shook their heads no, and nobody objected.

"What about the river-scene, when Billy was almost hit by a tree trunk falling into the water?"

Margareta started to rave of the heroic officer: "This boy was really on his toes. Before any of us realized the danger he was already in the water. He risked his life to save Billy. You should have seen him! And then the second time when he had to climb…"

A hardly perceptible smile flashed over the Chief's face. The famous dark beauty was really crazy about the young cop.  
>He interrupted Margareta's oral flow. "Thank you, but that's not quite what I need to know. I mean: Were Frank and Steve there too?"<p>

The director understood the question quite well. "No, they didn't work with us at all before today. We use unemployed young actors or people who happen to be around for these jobs. This was the first time these two worked with us."

Now – that only left one possibility open...


	3. Chapter 3

Ironside decided to show these movie-people something about putting up an act.

He raised his voice: "Do you all realize the implications of what we have heard? Not only is there an assailant among you. It may be much worse! Let's talk about motive, means and opportunity. There was a cutthroat razor, so no need to search for a murder weapon.

Irene, Billy, Cyril, Doug, Frank and Steve – please rise and get over here."

The make-up artist and the five men complied, showing different grades of worry.

"Does everyone agree with me that these were the only people who had the possibility to cut the rope and thus make an attempt on Sgt. Brown's life?"

Almost everybody nodded, but some seemed to be frozen by fear already.

"Irene and Doug could not have cut the rope because they are too short. Step away from the group."

Visibly relieved Doug sat down. Irene did the same, but very slowly and obviously impressed by the detective's acumen, his good looks or both.

"Now a few words about motives. Your director absolutely needs Billy McCarty. Without him this movie would most probably flop. He also called for my help. He was very glad that my assistant protected his precious star, and he was also glad that he could use him for some parts of the filming. Why should he want to have Billy or Ed out of the way?"

General agreement again.

Cyril smiled. "You had me worried for a moment. I was starting to suspect myself," he joked.

The Chief thought of his subordinate in hospital. He didn't appreciate any joking right now. His voice became even sharper. "Each of the three men standing still here also happened to know that it would _not_ be Billy McCarty, but Ed Brown who would use this rope. Consequently the person responsible for this does not necessarily have to be the same as in the other cases, is that correct?"

Several nodding heads, reluctant though, showed him that his audience had understood his line of reasoning.

Ironside noticed that Billy had started to sweat.

"Frank and Steve, if you were paid to make an attempt on officer Brown's life, I would advise you strongly to tell it now or you will make things worse for yourself."

The two looked as if they were quite confused.

"No Sir," managed Steve finally. "We were not paid by anybody. We were supposed to help with the stunt, as we are quite strong. We agreed to stand there and catch Billy when he would swing back to make sure he would not be hurt. Then it was that kid instead of Billy, but we thought that there was not much of a difference except he was less heavy and therefore easier to ..."

Before Steve had finished his speech Billy interrupted him. His complexion was almost dangerously red by now; probably his blood-pressure was too high. "Stop it! I did it. I cut the rope!"

Ironside had been expecting this revelation, he had been working towards it, but the spectators were taken aback.

"Please try to understand!" Billy went on. "This was my dream part. I have been waiting to play Zorro all my life. And now there comes this Johnny and wins everybody's hearts. By having to rescue me he becomes the hero I was supposed to be. And then, today, he was given _my_ part. I must have lost my senses. I just wanted him to leave. I didn't want him to get hurt that badly. He was always so skilful when something happened to me. I thought that he would perhaps sprain his ankle, not more. Believe me – I know that he is a fine young man; I even like him, like everybody else. He has saved my life, and more than once. I'm feeling terrible about what I have done to him now."

Doug Donelly looked as if he wanted to assault the much taller man, but he controlled himself. Yet his voice sounded full of hatred: "Now that's the real kind of hero!"

Margaret was a very temperamental lady. She stood up and spat Billy in the face.

"You mean, jealous beggar! If you think that you will ever get a lead again – you won't, I will see to it! How could you, after everything that boy did for you!"

She was about to rant on, but Ironside softly pulled her away from the completely dejected actor and led her back to her seat. To everybody's astonishment he didn't eat Billy alive. On the contrary he seemed to be quieter now that he knew who was responsible for his assistant's accident. Of course Margaret was right: Billy McCarty's career was most probably over. This was punishment enough for what he had done.

Calmly the big detective asked: "Did any of the bystanders on the ground floor see if Ed hit his head when he landed or during the roll he performed?"

Sandy, the script girl, answered: "No, he didn't, I've seen him well. But the camera with the tripod hit his head hard when he was already lying on the ground."

Chances were good that he could trust this statement, thought Ironside, since the girl had a crush on his cop. Probably she had kept her eyes glued to him.

"And who pushed the camera? Did anybody see that?"

"It was me," said contritely the little cameraman. "It was a terrible accident."

Ironside believed him. Obviously his camera had been very important to him, and it looked as if he was quite fond of Ed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, therefore it is established that Billy McCarty set up a trap for officer Brown. Yet it would probably not have lead to any severe damage, considering officer Brown's training in sports and in martial arts. His injury was basically caused by an accident."

A gasp of relieve went through the crowd.

"Now that we're at it let's find out who was behind the attacks on Mr. McCarty himself." Immediately the feelings of the people changed again.

Steve seemed to have recovered from the shock of being a suspect. Obviously he didn't feel the urge to see a Billy-McCarty-movie in the near future. "Are you sure that McCarty didn't set up those accidents himself?" he asked provocatively.

Throwing Billy a short glance the Chief saw that the star was taking a gulp from a hip flask. Probably it was not the first time he drowned his problems in alcohol. He was one of those who'd had troubles with DUI in the past. Yet he had seemed genuinely worried after the attacks on his live, and when he had said that Ed had saved his life he had been too upset to think of a cunning lie.

"That's not very likely. Officer Brown was around him during every working hour over the last few days. Not all cops are silly, you know. If Mr. McCarty had played a foul game he would sooner or later have noticed it."

He resumed his topic: "Does anyone have any helpful information?"

At first he got no reaction, but then Eleonora Varona, who played Senora Isabella Vega, spoke up. "After this morning's near-accident Ed wanted to talk to you. It looked as if he had an idea of who was responsible for the incidents. But as we were in such a hurry he had to postpone it." Together with the rest of the cast and crew, yet distinctly infatuated, she stared at the famous policeman. It looked as if every cog in Ironside's brain would start to rotate: _Ed, what on earth was it you wanted to tell me? What was different today so that you could find out the truth?_

"Tell me who was on set this morning."

Rogers answered: "There were those needed for the scene: Billy, those playing the onlookers, and me, then Margareta and Eleonora who would be needed later, Irene, the make-up artist… Have I forgotten anybody?"

"In the movie sequence among the spectators I saw a man with a checkered shirt and a vest. He's the special effects' man, isn't he?"

"Yes, that's him. Since several of his special effects ended in accidents he wanted to be close by to be able to intervene."

"And Doug Donelly was there to shoot the sequence, right?"

"Ah, no. You see, the company had hired another cameraman first, Robert Bleake. Then Billy insisted on Doug, because he is the best, he says. He got his wish granted, although Doug objected at first. But he is under contract, so he had to accept the job. Robert filmed the fire scene, given that it was only a short one. Doug wanted to prepare everything for the rope-scene afterwards. He said that it was more difficult."

Suddenly everything fell into place: The little phrases like 'more like fifty pounds heavier…' and 'the real kind of hero'.

For a second Ironside closed his eyes. He would have liked to grab the little man who had ultimately caused Ed's accident and show him what fear feels like… it would not be fear for an injured friend the same as for Ironside, it would be fear for himself.

Of course he did no such thing.

"Mr. Donelly, how long does it take to prepare the camera for a scene? You left the set behind studio 22, but while officer Brown changed his clothes you were still busy with that task. How come? Were you angry because you had to work on 'Zorro under Attack'? Was this the reason why you wanted to wreak revenge on Billy McCarty? I found the ax used for this morning's accident. It will show your fingerprints, won't it?"

Slowly the cameraman stood up. "Do you have any idea what it is like if the only criterion for your work is the star's waistline? When you have to disregard everything you have learned about light and perspective because the star has to look good? And of course you have to forget every ambition you ever had for an award, because you don't do good, solid movie-work, but all you do is to try and hide the star's extra pounds. It makes me wanna puke. I wanted to scare McCarty away, no more, no less. Yes, I prepared those little accidents. At first they were harmless, and then there was officer Brown who looked out for precious Billy. There was never any harm intended. And believe me, I sure as hell didn't want to throw my camera onto the kid. I was as shocked about his accident as everybody."

Wearily he sat down. "Okay, book me for what I have done. At least I won't have to work with McCarty anymore."

Ironside took a deep breath. "Nobody will go to prison. I suppose you will both have to pay the damage you caused the film company, but that's none of my business. Go home, everybody, and pick up the pieces tomorrow."

He turned around and left to gather his personal belongings. Only when he had almost reached his office director Rogers caught up with him.

"I have to thank you, Sir. You have done a wonderful job. But it must be frustrating if you can't even make an arrest."

Ironside turned around. "Do you really think that I get a kick out of putting people into prison? My only worry right now is officer Brown. I wish you luck with your movie. But above all I wish that boy luck. I would like to see him lean his long figure against my desk, a cup of bad coffee in his hand and eager to save the world, just waiting for me to tell him where to start. Seeing that again would be worth more than any arrest I've ever made."

When he left the strange world of fiction to move back to reality, to the hospital Brown had been taken to, he was followed by many admiring looks… and by a couple of cars occupied by women.

* * *

><p>Ironside was immediately led to Ed's room by a friendly nurse. On their way there she explained: "The young man has just got a concussion. When he regained consciousness we had troubles keeping him still. He absolutely wanted to get up and tell you something about a case. Of course we could not let that happen, we had to give him a mild sedative. We wondered if this stubborn behavior was an aftereffect of the concussion."<p>

"I can assure you that it wasn't – he is born that way!"

"If you say so… He's asleep now."

* * *

><p>Several huge bouquets adorned Ed's room. Ironside read some of the cards. They were from actors and crew members, wishing Ed to get well soon. One was addressed: "For the next Zorro!"<p>

When Ed started to show signs of unrest the Chief took a chair and sat down at his bedside.

Somebody knocked at the door. One after the other several ladies entered:

Margareta, Eleonora, Irene and Sandy, and behind them Cyril Rogers.

Sandy looked at the patient with concern, but the others showed more interest for his boss. It wasn't that Ironside didn't like the attention of beautiful women, but he wondered briefly what he should do with three of them at the same time.

Cyril seemed to understand his dilemma. He tried to provide a distraction: "Sir, what you showed us this afternoon was very impressive. Have you ever considered becoming an actor? I think about something like 'Perry Mason', I'm sure you have heard of that successful show… Or, if you prefer, a cop show, featuring you as the lead character. I didn't really get the chance to find out if officer Brown can act, but he sure would be a nice ornament. He could play your assistant …"

Right now Ed was opening his eyes. Halfway at least.

"Welcome back. The case is closed. Do you want to stay on stage as a regular?"

Ed was clearly not quite his old quick-thinking self yet. Still it seemed as if he had got the message, and he also realized the ladies' admiration for the Chief... the same ladies' who had admired _him_ until a few hours ago. He mumbled: "No thanks. Coffee's better here, but that's not worth all the trouble it gets one into."

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes:<em>

_This story was corrected by Briroch. Thank you very much!_

_Thanks everybody for reading and reviewing! _

_Cari lettori italiani, grazie per aver letto le mie storie. Ho una richiesta: Vi prego di inviarmi un messaggio privato (PM). Che cosa vi piace? Sarebbe felice di esaudire le vostre richieste!_

_Mounty_


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